Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Average customer rating: 3.5

are you serious?!?!
Nothing special
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Flexing my intuition muscle!

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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcolm Gladwell
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Product Group: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0316010669
2007-04-03

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Amazon.com

Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea.

Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff

Book Description

In his #1 bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. In BLINK, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. How do we make decisions--good and bad--and why are some people so much better at it than others? That's the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in BLINK. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, examining case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the New Coke, Gladwell shows how the difference between good decision making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but rather with the few particular details on which we focus. BLINK displays all of the brilliance that has made Malcolm Gladwell's journalism so popular and his books such perennial bestsellers as it reveals how all of us can become better decision makers--in our homes, our offices, and in everyday life.

Customer Reviews:

are you serious?!?!.......2007-06-13

after reading all the hype and best seller list propaganda, i was extremely disappointed to find out it was just another self help book that rehashes previous chapters throughout and offers no real content.

typically a traditional self help book would offer some sort of exercise, usually with regards to the topic of the book. Maybe offer you some tools to work with towards your "embetterment"(thanks Bush). In this case recognizing your "rapid cognition", otherwise known to everyone else as intuition, and how you may start understanding and working with it in its quick, micro-second changes. i.e. why does *particular scenario* make you react so quickly without thinking. this book promises to help you notice these minimal changes and to work with them. say your kid does something stupid and you immediately blow up at them. well this book, idealistically, would help you recognize and analyze that process and work with it. unfortunately this book provides nothing but a series of unsatisfying research and drawl stories that go on for ever, referencing each other without reason, content, or even climax. hmm, similar to this review...

maybe next time malcom you'll be pulled over for fraud, and not your hair

:P

Nothing special.......2007-06-13

I agree with some of the reviewers that Gladwell's Blink could have been condensed to 5 or so pages. In Blink, Gladwell attempts to synthesize scientific research and present it in layman's terms. Having read the original articles, I could say that, Gladwell's reduction doesn't do the research justice and leaves out a few caveats. The chapters seem to be only loosely connected. There is nothing innovative or creative in what Gladwell presents, he certainly does not add anything of his own.
For someone who is unfamiliar with cognitive psychology, this might serve as a decent introduction. However, Gladwell should stick to writing New Yorker articles, and stay away from 200-page books.

Relearning Instinct.......2007-06-08

Instincts innate to humans often end up on the back burner as time passes. "Blink" is an intellectual intuition-stimulating read I found fascinating and instructive for finding the buried part of my psyche; Woke me to observe myself and my reactions more closely. Thoroughly enjoyed it as did my husband for whom it was purchased.

Pat Thompson

Misguided Ideas.......2007-06-08

At the time of a blink, I know this book has a very misleading title but it fits today's Americans' need. It suggests that you don't need to think but you can make right decisions. However, intuition or hunch actually comes from years of experiences. But today's society, we need to get rich fast and enjoy life and we need a reason to make a judgement without real thinking. The result will be disasterous. Blink should not be a substitute of years of experiences and hard work.

Flexing my intuition muscle!.......2007-06-06

"Blink" inspires me to listen to my intuition as I pay attention to my initial impulses and not over-think or second-guess myself. Malcolm Gladwell speaks of "thin slicing" - that first, unexamined "intuitive hit" that we experience before we start to analyze situations. Trusting my intuition can be particularly challenging when I have personal agendas that conflict with intuitive information I receive. I find that my intuitive skill set is easy to access when I am present with any given moment and not lost in my thought process, analyzing every little thing.

Another book that has strengthened my intuitive skill-set is Ariel & Shya Kane's "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work". It is a brilliant book that has taught me that choices are always appropriate when I don't reach for conclusions based on my past experiences. With their easy & practical principles, I have found a deep sense of ease in my life as I learn to trust my intuition. Within the realm of wellbeing - intuition blooms!

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